HC order could delay further admissions, frets DU

New Delhi: A day after the Delhi High Court said that the ongoing Delhi University admissions could be impacted by the outcomes of a plea in the court and the results of the re-evaluation of CBSE Class 12 answer sheets, DU officials are concerned about how their “sacrosanct” number of seats and the calendar will be affected by the impending orders.

A senior DU official, who wished to remain unnamed as the matter is still sub judice, said that students who have already taken admission at the university and its 60-odd constituent colleges need not worry. “The issue is about students who are still seeking admission according to the latest order. Students who have already been admitted to DU colleges will not have their admissions cancelled, even if their marks get reduced after re-evaluation,” said the official.

As for students who may have their grades increased, DU officials said that they will follow the current admission guidelines, unless ordered otherwise by the court. “According to our current guidelines, if a student clears a particular cutoff, but fails to take admission under that list, he/she may do so on the last day of admission under the subsequent cutoffs, given that there are still seats available,” said a DU official who works with the admissions committee.

However, as the High Court order makes references to previous directives, where it was ordered that the university must accept students irrespective of availability of seats and admission schedules, have left many officials worried.

“The sacrality of the DU calendar is supreme. It is our unique selling point (USP). Even the number of seats as set by the academic council and the executive council is sacrosanct. This would go for a toss, and our admission procedures will get delayed,” said the DU admission committee member.

DU has approximately 56,000 seats this year.

DU officials also raised the question of why they are supposed to delay their admission procedures because of the Central Board of Secondary Education’s “tardiness,” when CBSE is only one of the 42 boards that represent the student community at DU.

Almost 80% of the students who apply to DU are CBSE students.

Educators, and school officials have welcomed the High Court order as “natural justice” for students.

“Children should not be made to suffer for something that is obviously not their fault. Their right to admission should not be denied because of ‘policy’,” said the principal of a prominent private school in Delhi.

The matter is now listed for further hearing on July 26, in the meantime, DU expects its admission procedures to go uninterrupted. Officials also said that in compliance with the High Court order, they will be sending copies of the writ petition to colleges to keep them informed of the pendency of the issue.